


You want me to what??

by parsda



Category: Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parsda/pseuds/parsda
Summary: Ranger asked Stephanie for a favor and the story that follows will change their lives.





	

“You want me to what?”  
Chapter 1  
Ranger let out a big sigh as he hung up the phone. He looked across his desk at Tank and gave another big sigh.  
“Not changing their demands, are they?” Tank asked.  
“No, if I don’t do what they are demanding, then it’s not going to go in my favor.” Ranger replied.  
“You know what you have to do, don’t you?”  
“Yes, I know. It’s not going to be easy, but it has to be done.”  
“I’ll ask her to stop in when I go by her desk. Just remember to choose your words wisely man. You know how sensitive she is and if you muck this up, then you are big time screwed.”  
“I know, I know. Get out and send her in.”  
Tank chuckled and walked out of Ranger’s office and detoured by Stephanie’s desk on his way back to his office. She had her headphones on and was bouncing around in her seat while typing away on the computer. Her back was to Tank and when he touched her shoulder, she jumped.  
“Sorry to bother you little girl, but the big guy needs to see you in his office.”  
“Geez Tank, way to scare a girl! What’s up with Ranger? I don’t think I broke any of his men lately so I don’t know why he’d need to talk to me.”  
Tank wasn’t sure what was up between Ranger and Steph, but they hadn’t been as friendly in the past few weeks as they had in the past. He knew Ranger’s feelings for her and how he kept them locked away. Stephanie wore her heart on her sleeve and didn’t always understand Ranger’s motives for how he handled her.  
“Just go talk to him Steph. He’ll explain everything to you.” With that being said, Tank squeezed her shoulder and then walked off towards his office.  
Stephanie got up from her desk and walked to Ranger’s office. The door was shut and after she knocked, he called out for her to come in.  
“Tank said you wanted to see me about something.”  
“Babe, have a seat, I need to talk to you about something that’s going on in my personal life and I wanted you to hear everything from me and not second hand from the office gossips.”  
Steph looked up at him and smiled. “What do you want to tell me before Lester tells me?”  
Ranger gave a small smile at her recognition of the office gossip and let out another big sigh. What was up with all of the sighing, he thought to himself.  
“Babe, I wanted to tell you that I am getting married and after the wedding, Julie is going to come live with me.”  
Steph didn’t know what to say. She was shocked at what he said about getting married. She knew they were having a time-out from each other right now, but she didn’t think he was dating anyone else. She stood up and gave him a small smile.  
“I’m sure you’ll be happy Ranger.” With that, she turned and ran out of the office, past her desk and out the door to the stairwell. Ranger came flying out after her and stopped short when Tank stood in his way.  
“You screwed it up, didn’t you?”  
“Tank, let me go after her. I didn’t get a chance to explain everything and ask her. She just ran out and took off out of the office.”  
“Ranger, let me go talk to her. She doesn’t have her purse with her so she doesn’t have her car keys and can’t go anywhere. Cal, lock down the garage before she gets that far.”  
Tank went down the stairs and found Steph about halfway to the garage. She was sitting on a step and had her hands over her face and was sobbing.  
Tank sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She flinched at his touch, but then when she saw it was him, she relaxed and threw her arms around him. He held her while she cried and didn’t try to talk to her until she was ready to talk.  
“Who is she Tank? Who is the bimbo that he’s going to marry?”  
“What? What did he tell you? “  
“He told me that he was getting married and that after the wedding, Julie was coming here to live with him.”  
Tank started muttering, cursing out Ranger in Spanish. Tank stood up and pulled her to her feet.  
“Come on back upstairs. He needs to tell you the whole story. He’s such an idiot. I knew I should have explained everything to you and not let him do it himself.”  
“Tank, what’s going on? Why won’t you tell me who it is? I know we decided to take a time-out but I didn’t think he would do something like this. No, I can’t go back to the office. I don’t want to talk to him anymore. I don’t want to see him right now. I have to know who it is, who loves him more than I do?”  
“Stephanie…” Tank started to say, but she interrupted him.  
“Tank, who is it? Tell me!”  
“Little girl, it’s you. He needs to marry you.”  
**************************************************************************************************  
Chapter 2  
Steph stared at Tank and tried to speak, but couldn’t get any words out of her mouth. Tank looked at her and just pushed her up the stairs.  
“Let’s go, he needs to explain this properly so you hear what he should have said.”  
Tank got her upstairs and back onto the office floor. The guys who were there glanced up and saw the look on her face and then saw Ranger standing in the doorway of his office. They quickly decided to go to the break room and leave the tense situation.  
“Ranger, can you try this again without mucking it up or do I have to do it for you?”  
“Tank, I can handle this. You can leave now. Babe, would you please come in so I can explain everything to you?”  
Tank gave her a push into Ranger’s office and gave him a look that said if he had to stop her from running out again, it would not go over well.  
“Babe, please sit down. There’s so much I need to tell you and I started off the conversation wrong a few minutes ago and I need to explain everything to you. I want you to marry me, the sooner the better.”  
Stephanie looked up at him and started to sputter, “…you…me…marry…you…marry… You want me to what?”  
Ranger gave her a smile and pushed her into a chair and dropped a kiss on her head before heading back to his chair.  
“Babe, I know we decided to take a time-out from dating for a bit, but what you don’t know is why I pushed for it. I love you Stephanie. You need to know that and never doubt for a minute how I feel about you. You are my everything and I want to spend forever with you.”  
“You want what? We aren’t even dating right now, remember, you wanted to take a time-out.”  
“Babe, I know what I said. Please let me explain more. A few weeks ago, I got an email from Julie. We’ve been working on our relationship more and have been staying in contact much better than in the past. She’s mentioned a few times about how her mom has been acting out of the norm and so I started doing a little bit of digging into Rachel’s life. Babe, Rachel is not in a good place in her life right now. Ron left her and Julie and they haven’t heard from him in about three months. I flew down to Miami a week ago and found out that Rachel is having problems adjusting to Ron leaving and trying to be a single parent. She can’t take care of herself, let alone Julie. She’s been having problems with some prescription drugs and abusing the system to keep getting refills of the pills.  
Julie is 12 years old now and can mostly fend for herself, but she needs a parent figure in her life. I was able to convince Rachel to go into a treatment center but the court has placed Julie into a temporary foster home because Ron can’t be located and both sets of their parents are dead. He’s listed has her father in the eyes of the court since he adopted her. I’ve been working with my attorney to get custody of Julie, even if it’s temporary until Rachel can get through treatment and we see how she adjusts once her treatment is completed. The judge is hesitant to give me custody because I signed away my parental rights after she was born and because of my current lifestyle and job choice. My attorney has petitioned that I be given custody and it was suggested that if I’m married and have a good mother figure for Julie, custody will be granted to me.”  
Ranger stopped talking and looked at Stephanie. She was sitting in the chair, just staring at him.  
“Babe, are you okay? You look like you’re going to faint. Do I need to get Bobby?”  
Stephanie looked at him, gave a smile and said, “Ranger, I’ve never heard you say so much at one time before. I’m shocked. You know how I feel about Julie. What would all be involved with this marriage? Would it only be an on-paper only marriage or do you really want to give it a shot to make it work between us?”  
“Babe, I love you with all my heart and soul and would have asked you to marry me some time down the road. This is just sooner than we both wanted, but I love you and can’t think of anyone else I’d rather ask to spend the rest of my life with.”  
With that, Ranger came over and knelt down and pulled a box out of his pants pocket. He opened it and looked up at up at Steph. She had tears rolling down her cheeks and couldn’t speak.  
“Babe, please say yes.”  
“Ranger, I love you and Julie, so YES.”  
Ranger slid the ring on her finger, pulled up her up out of the chair and pulled her into his arms. He wiped the tears off her face and gave her a kiss that seemed to never end. After a few more kisses, they pulled apart and looked at each other, smiling.  
“Babe, I don’t want to rush you, but could you pull everything together so we can get married on Saturday?”  
“Ranger, you want me to what?”  
**************************************************************************************************  
Chapter 3  
“Babe, it can be a small wedding and we can get Ella to help you if you want. Whatever you want is fine with me.”  
“Ranger, are you serious? Saturday is in 3 days. How…?”  
“Before we do anything there’s something I need to say to you. I know that you thought I didn’t love you because I asked you to take a break in our seeing each other. In all honesty, I thought it was for the best at the time. I was trying to deal with Julie and Rachel and all of the problems here at work. I knew I couldn’t give you the attention you deserved. I now realize that it was a stupid thing to do and I should have come to you to explain. I do love you Stephanie, more than I probably should be allowed to because of my past.”  
“Carlos, I don’t care about your past any more now than I did when we first met. Julie is a part of your life so she’s a part of my life. I wish you would have talked to me about everything instead of pushing me away, but it’s the past now and we can finally look to the future, together.”  
“I love you Babe. Tonight, we’ll need to talk to our parents as well as all of the guys. Let’s get started on the announcements.”  
Ranger opened the door to his office and tugged on Stephanie’s hand to pull her alongside of him. “Tank, can you get all of the guys together. We have something to announce.”  
Tank pulled Stephanie into a big hug and whispered in her ear, “He truly loves you, you know.”  
Stephanie pulled away from Tank, dropped a kiss on his cheek and replied, “I know. I really know.”  
Tank let out a loud whistle and called all of the guys over. He looked at Ranger and gave him a wink.  
“What’s up Ranger?” Lester asked. He looked at Stephanie and gave her a smile and wiggling eyebrows.  
“I wanted to let you know that everyone will have Saturday off work and I’m calling in contract workers to work.”  
Before he could say anything else, the guys started cheering. Once it quieted down again, Ranger started talking again.  
“I’ve done this because on Saturday, at a time and place yet to be determined, (at this Stephanie let out a snort of laughter), Stephanie and I are getting married.”  
This announcement was met with dead silence. Stephanie looked at Ranger questioningly and then said “Guys, don’t everyone talk at once.”  
Suddenly there was a big roar from the guys and they were quickly swarmed with hugs and well wishes.  
Ranger and Stephanie smiled at each other and said they needed to go see Ella so they left the guys and headed to the elevator.  
Once the elevator doors shut, Ranger hit the button to stop the elevator from moving. “Ranger, what are you doing?”  
“Babe, I want to make sure you’re okay with everything. I know the past hour has been a full course of emotions for you and I am worried that you are having second thoughts. We still have a lot to talk about with Julie and Rachel and what’s all happened in the past few weeks.”  
“Ranger, I have no doubts or second thoughts. I want this and I want you. Let’s go see Ella and then head out to the parents’ house. Gee, that will be a fun conversation. I can hear my mother already.”  
Ella was beyond excited and made Stephanie promise to come back after talking to both sets of parents so they can start planning everything. A quick decision to have the wedding on the beach at Ranger’s house on the coast so Ella started with what she could with Stephanie’s input. Ranger handed Ella his credit card and told her there was no limit.  
Once they were out of Ella’s apartment, they both called their parents and requested to meet them at Pino’s in 30 minutes for dinner. They each hung up and smirked at each other. They both knew how their parent’s would react and decided to bite the bullet and just get it over with. Ranger called Mr. Pino and set up a table in the back room and ordered a couple pizzas and salads to be ready when they all got to the restaurant.  
Everyone arrived at the same time and Ranger ushered them to back room. Mr. Pino came over to greet them and Stephanie gave him a big hug and thanked him for his help. Ranger asked to speak with Stephanie’s dad in a corner of the room and quickly explained the situation and asked for his permission to marry Stephanie. Her dad clapped him on the back and asked if he knew what he was getting into by adding Grandma Mazur into his family? They both chuckled and went to sit down.  
Ranger stood up once everyone was seated and started talking. He spoke about Julie and Rachel and that he had come up with a plan that will hopefully allow him to get temporary custody of Julie and bring her here to go to school. He looked at Steph and smiled and then announced that they were getting married on Saturday at the beach. There was a dead silence in the room. Grandma Mazur smiled and got up to hug them both. She whispered something to Ranger and he smiled at her, gave her a kiss on her cheek and led her back to her chair. Both sets of parents started talking at once and Ranger had to yell to get them to stop talking.  
“Steph and I talked this through and it’s what we want to do. We would have ended up getting married sometime down the road; this situation has just made us move quicker. We have both been married before and don’t want or need a big, fancy wedding. The beach is a perfect spot for the wedding and we hope that you will all attend and be happy for us.”  
Once their parents heard this, they seem to relax and accept what was happening. Once they finished eating, it was decided that Steph would take the moms and grandma back to RangeMan so they could work with Ella and see what could be put together in such a short amount of time. Steph was going to go grab her sister and Lula and go shopping for a dress that would work for a beach wedding. Ranger tried to give Stephanie a credit card so she could go get her wedding dress, but her dad intervened and handed over his own card stating that he would take care of the dress. Steph gave him a big hug and kiss, turned to say goodbye to Ranger and promptly left with the other women.  
Ranger called Tank and it was decided that Tank and Lester would met the men to get everyone new clothes for the wedding. Ranger and Steph had decided driving over that it would be a very casual beach wedding and the clothes should be casual as well. Both dads were very happy that they didn’t have to wear a tux on the beach!  
**************************************************************************************************  
Chapter 4  
The next two days went by so fast that before they knew it, it was Friday afternoon and it was time to head to the beach house. Ranger and Steph were driving together and the rest of the group would follow later on for rehearsal and dinner. Ella had already been staying at the beach house for a day to get everything organized and deal with the caterer and florist. While they both agreed on a simple beach wedding, Ranger wanted it to still be special for Steph. He had a few surprises planned with Ella’s help.  
They pulled up to the house and Steph got out and stood with her mouth hanging open. “Ranger, this is not some little beach house. This is a full size McMansion!”  
Ranger chuckled and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go inside Babe. I’ll show you to your room for tonight and we can see how the set-up is coming outside.”  
Ranger showed her the room she was staying in for tonight and gave her a smoking look that said he didn’t care if she stayed there or in his room. Steph was really pushing that she wanted to stay apart for the night, she was trying to follow a bit of tradition for this wedding. Lester already had started a pool on how long she would last without sneaking into bed with Ranger, but she didn’t need to know!  
They went out the back door and down a short path that lead to a private section of the beach. Two big white tents were already set up. One had a dance floor installed with tables and chairs for the guest and the other tent had a row long tables covered in white tablecloths where the food would be set up. A smaller round table was in the corner and that was for the cake. Ranger handled the cake order so Steph could be surprised. Even though she was the cake expert, he wanted this to be from him.  
They left the tents and walked a bit down the beach where they could see Ella directing the men who arrived early to help with the set up. There was an arch facing the water, a mere few short steps away from the water. Ella was working to get the guys to set up the rows of chairs for the ceremony. She was also explaining to the florist how she wanted the arch covered. She looked up when they approached and smiled. She was so happy they were getting married, even if it was sooner than expected. She walked over with the florist, made the introductions, and then proceeded to take the florist to the tents to show where she wanted the arrangements set up.  
Ranger grabbed Stephanie’s hand and started walking her down the beach. He wanted to get away for a few minutes with her before the rest of their families showed up and he wanted to make sure she was still okay with what was happening.  
“Babe, I know the past few days have been a whirlwind, but I want to make sure this is what you want. I love you and if you don’t want to get married right now, we won’t. Don’t do this just for Julie, do what you want to do.”  
“Carlos, I love you with all of my heart and wouldn’t do this just for Julie. I was heartbroken when you decided to back off and take a break from our relationship. I understand why you did it and am so glad you finally got your crap together and finally shared your reasons. I also love Julie and feel like together, we can give her what she needs right now, a family that cares and loves her. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than right here, right now, with you, ready to get married.”  
Ranger pulled her to him and started kissing her. They pulled back to catch their breath and then heard a loud yell and found Julie running down the beach towards them. She jumped at them with such enthusiasm that she knocked them over and fell on top of them. She started kissing their faces and started to cry.  
“Julie, what are you doing here? How did you get here? Why are you crying?” Ranger couldn’t stop asking one question after another.  
“Ranger, your attorney got me released into his custody for the weekend so I could come to the wedding. I asked him to do it when he came to tell me you and Steph were getting married, which I’m very excited about, and he picked me up this morning and now, here I am.”  
“Julie, you are turning into such a young woman. I would be honored if you would be my maid of honor tomorrow at the wedding. I have Lula and my sister as my bridesmaids but never designated one to the maid of honor. Would you please do it?”  
Julie threw her arms around Stephanie and together they hugged and cried. She felt more love in these past few minutes with her dad and Stephanie than she had in the past six months with her mom. “Or course I will, but I don’t have a dress to wear. “  
“Julie, don’t worry about that, let me make a phone call to the dress shop. They are bringing the dresses here in a bit and I’ll see if they have one for you to wear.”  
Together, the three walked hand in hand in hand back towards the house. By the time they got there, most of their families had arrived and were out on the beach looking at the set up and helping Ella where needed. Julie ran up and hugged Ranger’s parents, her aunts and uncles and cousins. She didn’t see them very often, but she always felt like she belonged with them.  
Ranger shook hands with a man in a suit and called Steph over to meet him. “Babe, this is James, my attorney. James, this is my babe, Stephanie.”  
The shook hands and Steph told him how glad she was he was able to get Julie released for the weekend and bring her to the wedding. He shared that he worked out a deal with the court that he would escort her to the wedding and then would accompany Ranger, Steph and Julie back to Miami for their court date. He felt like things would go in Ranger’s favor after talking with the judge and explaining the wedding. He told them he made it sound like the wedding was going to happen and that they just moved the date to get it done faster. Ranger told him that that was mainly the truth, he just hadn’t asked Steph to marry him yet, but was planning to do it as soon as Julie’s situation was straightened out.  
**************************************************************************************************  
Chapter 5  
Ranger had rented out a local hotel so everyone could stay after rehearsal and again the next night after the wedding. He had buses ready to shuttle everyone back and forth. After the actual wedding rehearsal, they loaded up the buses and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. It was a loud affair but everyone had a great time. The buses took everyone back to the hotel except for Ranger, Stephanie and Julie. They wanted Julie to stay with them at the house tonight and then after the wedding reception was over, she was spending the night at the hotel with Ranger’s parents so Steph and Ranger could be alone for their wedding night.  
The three took a walk down the beach and talked about what was going to be happening in the next few days both in New Jersey and in Miami. Julie was anxious to go to court and get everything settled. Her foster family was nice, but she felt like she didn’t belong in Miami anymore. From the way she talked, she had been having problems in her relationship with Rachel for the past year. Apparently things weren’t good between Rachel and Ron for quite a while and Julie had been taking the brunt of Rachel’s anger. While she was never physically abused, her mental state was suffering. Ranger apologized for not realizing what was going on, but Julie told him it wasn’t his fault. Rachel was good at hiding things from people. They walked back to the house and decided it was time for bed. Tomorrow would be a very exciting day.  
Ella had fixed Julie a room at the other side of the house from Ranger and Steph’s rooms. Ranger and Steph walked her to her room and left her with hugs and kisses. She was bouncing around still from everything that had happened today, but her yawns kept coming more frequently so they were reassured she would be asleep soon.  
Ranger walked Stephanie to her room and gave her a kiss in the hallway. “Babe, you don’t have to stay here, my bed is big enough for both of us.”  
“Ranger, this is the one tradition I want to do before the wedding, well, at least try to do.” Ranger gave her one last kiss and left her to her room. He walked across the hall to his room and turned around to give her one last smile. “You know where I’ll be if you need me.”  
Steph got ready for bed and wasn’t in bed five minutes when there was a knock on her door. She got up and found Ranger standing in his black silk boxers smiling at her. “Ranger, go away. I’m staying here tonight and you’re staying in your room. “  
“Babe, I just want to make sure you’re settled in okay and see if you need anything.”  
“Carlos, go to bed in your own room. NOW!!”  
Ranger chuckled and left to go back to his own room. Steph got back into bed and was almost asleep when there was another knock at her door. She got out of bed and opened the door with “Ranger..” but it was Julie standing in front of her.  
“Julie, what’s the matter?” “I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to be alone. Can I sleep with you?”  
“Sure, come on in sweetie. Get in bed and we’ll snuggle up and get some sleep. I hear something exciting is happening tomorrow!”  
“Steph, I’m glad you’re going to marry my dad. I can’t wait for you to be my mom.”  
The girls settled into bed and soon fell asleep. When Ranger snuck into the bedroom an hour later, he saw both of his girls and smiled. He hoped everything worked out in court and this could be an everyday scene at his house. He dropped a kiss on both of their cheeks and headed back to his own room.  
Morning came and the girls woke up to someone banging on the door. Steph got up and opened the door to find Lester. He was smiling and wanted to know how her night went. She smiled and held out her hand. “Give me the money.”  
“Beautiful, I have no idea what money you are talking about, doesn’t Ranger give you enough money?”  
“Lester, I know about the bet you made. I win. Ranger slept in his room and I slept here, all night.”  
“I’m not confirming that there was a bet, but if there was, how can I believe you?”  
“Because of me.” Julie piped in from the bed.  
Lester looked in and groaned. He pulled the wad of money out of his pocket and handed it over. Steph did a quick count and smiled. “Julie, come give your Uncle Lester a big hug. He just gave you enough money to buy the new laptop you were talking about last night.”  
Ranger walked out of his room and saw Lester standing there, and then saw Julie holding the wad of money. He started laughing and punched Lester in the arm. “Don’t bet against Steph.”  
They all headed downstairs and found Ella setting up breakfast. They sat down and ate and slowly the house started filling up with people. By the time breakfast was over, most of the guys from RangeMan were there and they headed outside with Ella to finish setting everything up for the wedding.  
The wedding was set for sunset so the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon was set aside for wedding set up. Ranger pulled Stephanie aside about 3:00 and told her that she had some company upstairs and he had someone coming to help her get ready and with a kiss, he told her he’d see her at the wedding. She gave a squeal and ran upstairs to find Lula, Valerie, Julie, Angie, Mary Alice, Grandma Mazur, her mom and Carlos’ mom in her room. All of the dresses were hanging up on the closest and there was a tray of sandwiches and a couple bottles of Champaign to drink, along with some soda for the girls. A few minutes after she got in the room, a knock on the door signaled the hairdresser and make-up artists. Ranger thought of everything. She sent a quick thank you text and got back the standard “Babe”.  
The next few hours flew by and before she knew it, it was time for Stephanie to put on her wedding dress. The dress was very simple and it fit her perfectly. It was a strapless, chiffon white dress that hit the floor. She opted for just flowers in her hair and no veil. The girls were dressed in their blue chiffon dresses that were tea length and Julie’s dress was similar but in a different shade of blue. Angie and Mary Alice wore simple white dresses and were going to be the flower girls. All of the girls were going barefoot, it wasn’t worth the trouble to wear shoes when on the beach.  
The moms came over and helped finish Steph’s look. Steph’s mom gave her a pair of pearl and diamond earrings that she had worn on her own wedding day. Ranger’s mom put a pearl necklace on her that she said Ranger gave her to give to Stephanie to wear. It was gorgeous and went with the dress perfectly. Lulu added a bright blue garter and then they realized she had nothing borrowed. Julie ran out of the room and came back with an ankle bracelet that Ranger had given her for her birthday last year. She hooked it on Steph and then gave her a big hug.  
Soon, it was time to go downstairs and meet up with Steph’s dad. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with her bouquet. He said Ranger had dropped it off earlier for her. It was a simple bouquet of wildflowers and tied together with blue ribbons. He gave Steph a kiss on the cheek and told her how happy he was for her and how he was proud of what she was doing for Julie and Ranger. She hugged him back and they headed for the back door that went out to the beach. Lester and Bobby were waiting at the door and smiled at her when they saw her. “Ranger is going to be overwhelmed when he sees you Beautiful.” They escorted the moms to their seats and then Lester came back for Grandma Mazur. Before Grandma went outside, she put a lace handkerchief in Steph’s hand and smiled at her and said she might need it.  
Steph and her dad waited at the back door while the girls went down the aisle. Right before Julie walked down the aisle, she turned around and gave her a big hug. “I’ll see you down on the beach, mom!”  
There was a pause in the music after Julie got down the aisle and as soon as they heard the new music start, Steph looked at her dad and said, “Let’s do this!” and they headed down the aisle towards the beach where Ranger was waiting for her.  
**************************************************************************************************  
Chapter 6  
Stephanie and her dad started walking down the path towards the beach. She looked at all her friends and family that were standing waiting for her arrival. She looked past all of them and found Ranger standing in front of the archway of flowers and twinkling lights. He was wearing tan pants, a white long sleeve shirt with the top few buttons opened and was barefoot. He smiled when he saw her and couldn’t take his eyes off of her the entire time she walked towards him. Her dad gave her a kiss on the cheek, shook Ranger’s hand and then went to stand by Steph’s mother and grandmother.  
Ranger reached out and took one of her hands and pulled it to his lips for a brief kiss. He still couldn’t stop looking at her. He knew she was beautiful but had never realized how beautiful until this very moment. The officiant cleared his throat and welcomed everyone to the wedding.  
When it was time for the vows, he looked at Ranger and Stephanie and stated that they wanted to say their own vows. Steph looked at Ranger and with a chuckle said, “I think you forgot to tell me this part…” He just smiled and told her to speak from her heart, as that’s what he was going to do.  
“Carlos, you are my Batman. You mean everything to me and you are the love of my life and the man of my dreams. I can’t image my life without you in it. You are my best friend and I’m so grateful that our lives collided together when they did. You give me purpose and direction. I vow to be there every day for you, through good times and bad times. I don’t think I knew what love was until I met you. I am so proud of you for all that you are, and am proud to think of what is yet to come. I am so happy and excited to become your wife today. I love you so much and can’t wait to join our families and grow old together.”  
Before Ranger started speaking, he reached up and wiped the tears off of her cheeks with a loving smile.  
“Babe, you are the light in my world of darkness. Before I met you, I was content with the direction my life was headed. The day I met you, my life turned upside down and I’m so glad it did. You are the love of my life and my best friend. I am proud of the woman you are and am excited to see what comes next for us. I promise to be there every day for you and Julie, through good times and bad times. I promise to be the best husband and father I know how to be. I can’t wait to see what the future brings us, and whether we expand our family beyond Julie or not, I will be happy, as long as you are by my side. I am excited to become your husband today and I love you so very much.”  
They both then turned to Julie and each grabbed one of her hands. Steph said, “Julie, I don’t know much about being a parent, but I promise to be the best mom I can be to you. I love you so much and am so proud of you.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek.  
Ranger said, “Julie, when you were born, I was not at a place in my life to care for you. I thought I was doing the right thing by letting you go, but I now realize I should have stayed with you and fought harder. I promise to be here for you 100% of the time from today forward and I love you very much. I am proud of the young woman you have become.” He gave her a kiss on the other cheek and all three of them hugged.  
It was then time to light the candles, one for each of the three of them and then together they light the larger of the candles that were set up on a candelabra set off to the side of the arch. While they light the candles, a group of RangeMen stood off to the side and along with a violinist, they sang a song of love that was perfect for the new family. Steph looked at them with a quizzical look on her face. Who knew the RangeMen could sing??  
When it was time to exchange the rings, it was done between the three of them. Ranger and Steph repeated the words the officiant said and then together they gave Julie a ring, each promising to love her and stand beside her, regardless of the situation.  
Before the officiant could pronounce them married, Ranger pulled Steph into his arms and kissed her. He pulled her off of her feet and swung her around, laughing. Julie jumped on them and they all hugged and laughed. The crowd laughed and started clapping.  
Ranger pulled his girls down the aisle and back into the back door of the house. They took a moment together as a new family and posed for their first official family photo for the photographer. Then, they headed back to the beach for more photos. All of the guests headed into the tent with the food and cake and started the party. By the time they were done with photos, the food was starting to be served and when Steph looked around for the cake, she found it curtained off from view. She looked at Ranger and said, “Why are you hiding the cake?”  
“Babe, I wanted to give you the wedding of your dreams, even if we only had 3 days to plan. The cake took some thought, but I think this will be up to your very high cake standards.” With that, he pulled back the curtain and Steph let out a gasp when she looked at the cake.  
Steph had never seen a cake look like such a piece of artwork. It was 5 tiers tall, all in white. Each tier was decorated with edible photos of their lives. The bottom two tiers had photos from their childhood and as the cake grew taller, the photos progressed into their relationship. The top of the cake was adorned with a photo in a frame of Ranger and Steph after a distraction job. Ranger had her in his arms and was looking down at her with a smile on his face. Steph was looking up at him with an equal smile. You could see the love they had for each other, even if they didn’t realize it at the time the photo was taken. Steph looked at Ranger and started to cry. He pulled her into his arms and wanted to know why she was in tears. She told him that this was the best cake she’d ever seen and even though she loves cake, she didn’t want to eat this one and ruin it. Ranger laughed, kissed her and from behind the cake table, pulled out a photo album with all of the pictures from the cake. She laughed and then looked around for the cake knife.  
The photographer came over, took the required photos, and then Steph grabbed a plate and put a big piece of cake on it. Ranger grabbed it and held it over her head, while laughing. Steph was jumping trying to grab the plate. He told her that she needed to eat other food before she could have more cake. She grabbed some of the leftover piece from their shared bite for the photos and smashed it into his face. He looked at her and commented that she’d pay for that, but not until later that evening when they were alone!  
The rest of the party went off without any problems. The party lasted until the wee hours of the night and Steph didn’t think she’d ever had so much fun at a wedding. Guests were leaving and heading back to the hotel and then it was time to say good night to Julie. She gave them both a big hug and kiss and said she’d see them in the morning. She whispered something in Ranger’s ear and he blushed, but said nothing. He put her on the shuttle bus to the hotel with his parents and then waved goodbye to everyone. He threw Steph over his shoulder and walked towards the house. She laughed and told him to go faster! Before they got upstairs to the bedroom, she asked him what Julie said to make him blush. He looked at her and smiled. “It was pretty much the same thing your grandmother told me the other night. They both said that we’ll make beautiful babies together. Julie specifically asked for a baby brother.”  
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Chapter 7  
Steph looked at him with her mouth hanging open. Ranger reached over and pulled her chin up to close her mouth. “Don’t worry Babe. We’ll just practice tonight.”  
“Let’s start now.” He reached over to pull her close to him, which made her gasp. It was the first of many gasps from her during the night!  
When morning came, they woke up and could smell coffee downstairs. They put on some clothes and headed to the kitchen. Ella was finishing up breakfast and greeted them with a smile. “I was just getting breakfast ready for you and whoever else drops by this morning. It’s in the warmer drawer and the coffee is ready.”  
Steph went over and hugged her tightly. “Ella, I can’t even begin to thank you for all of your help and hard work the past few days. I know I wouldn’t have made the wedding as beautiful as you did.”  
Ranger echoed the thanks for Ella before she left the house. He made a plate of breakfast for each of them and they sat down at the table. They talked about the trip to Miami and what they could expect from the upcoming court date. Ranger’s attorney had faxed a copy of their marriage license to the judge after the ceremony last night and was waiting to hear back about a court date. Once they finished eating, they put their dishes in the dishwasher and went upstairs to shower and get dressed. When they got back downstairs, there was a group of guys eating breakfast and Julie was pacing at the bottom of the stairs. She looked up at them with a smile and ran towards them.  
“Uncle Lester wouldn’t let me go upstairs to see you. Are you ready to go? I’m all packed and ready to go to Miami.”  
Ranger chuckled and pulled her in his arms for a hug. “For once, Uncle Lester made a smart decision.” Lester was laughing at them from the table. Thankfully she listened to him or she would have walked into an interesting shower. Steph hugged her as well and asked her to come back upstairs and help her get packed for the trip. Ranger, of course, was already packed.  
Lester came over and they started talking about work and how to handle Ranger being out of the office for an indefinite period of time. Tank was going to be in charge of the Trenton office with Lester and Bobby as his backups. Ranger planned to work out of the Miami office when he could, but he was mainly going to Miami to get things settled with Julie and Rachel. Lester was going to stay at the beach house and get everything put away and closed up. The guys that were there that morning were going to help him before they headed back to Trenton.  
When the girls came back downstairs with Steph’s bags, Ranger got up and helped carry them out to the car. They got into the car and drove to the hotel so they could tell everyone goodbye before they caught a flight to Miami. They still needed to stop at RangeMan to get some of Ranger’s things, but otherwise, they were packed and ready to go. They parked in the garage and took the elevator up to the control room. Ranger went into his office to get his things, while Steph and Julie headed up to the 7th floor to double check that she had everything. They were planning to stay at the Miami RangeMan office, so she wasn’t sure what she would all need.  
They went back down to meet Ranger and he was talking things over with Tank in his office. Tank walked with them to the garage and drove them to the airport. Their plane was leaving in about 2 hours and Ranger got them checked in, while the girls headed to the gift shop for snacks. He watched them and laughed to himself how they were more like sisters than adult and child.  
The flight was uneventful, which was good because Ranger knew Stephanie didn’t like flying. Thankfully she was still tired and slept most of the way. Julie talked about school and her friends. She would miss a few of them if she got to move to Trenton, but Ranger promised to help her keep in touch with them via Skype and promised he would fly them up once in a while for a visit. A car from RangeMan was waiting for them at the airport and they loaded up the luggage and drove into Miami.  
The RangeMan Miami building was similar to the Trenton building, but there was a bit of the Miami influence in the design inside. Ranger had an apartment on the top floor and had called ahead to have a second bedroom made up for Julie. The guys had added a twin size bed for her in the 2nd bedroom that was previously used as an office. Julie went to unpack her suitcase and Steph did the same in the master bedroom. Ranger got on the phone and called his attorney to let him know they were in town and he was going to come over to meet with all three of them.  
About an hour later, James knocked on the door to the apartment. He had been let in by the control desk, as Ranger had let them know to send him up when he arrived. Ranger let him in and they all went to the dining room table and he spread out some documents they needed to look over and sign. He had filed a petition for Ranger to receive temporary custody so Julie didn’t have to go back to the foster home. He also filed a petition for Ranger to take control of Rachel’s affairs so he could make sure bills were paid and everything would be in order when she completes her treatment. He also petitioned for Ranger’s parental rights to be restored. They all signed what they needed to and he told them he would meet them tomorrow morning at 9:00 am downstairs to take them to court. He was able to get a 10:00 meeting with the judge and he needed to have Julie in his custody when they arrived, as the custody was given to him for the wedding visit. Ranger walked him out and thanked him before he left the apartment.  
“Babe, how about I go get some dinner and bring it back. What do you want?” His girls looked at each other and both said “Pizza” at the same time. “Pizza? You’re in Miami with some of the best food in the world and you want pizza?”  
“Ranger, we want pizza so you can go get some for us or we can call and have it delivered.” Stephanie smiled at him and tried to raise an eyebrow at him. He laughed at her and said “Ok, pizza it is, but I’ll bring something healthy go with it.” “You do that, but it doesn’t mean I’ll eat it!” With a kiss to each of the girls and a laugh, he left the apartment.  
Stephanie turned to Julie and said, “Do you want to tell me what’s really going on with you and your mom that you didn’t want Ranger to know about? Don’t try to deny it because I am the master of denial and I could tell you weren’t telling us everything. I could tell that you were holding something back when we talked on the beach.” “  
“Steph, mom, what do I call you? I want to call you mom and I did a few times at the wedding, but I feel like I’m replacing my mom with you.”  
“You can call me whatever you’re comfortable with, and besides, you call your dad Ranger, and so it’s no difference. If you want to talk about your mom we can, because she’s still a big part of your life, even if she’s not here right now.”  
“Steph, I know I should have told Ranger, but I didn’t want him to get madder at my mom than he already is right now. “  
“Sweetie, you can tell me and I won’t get mad. Together we will decide what and when to tell Ranger.”  
“Ok, mom was using the money that Ranger would send for my school and stuff to buy drugs. She never used them in front of me, except after Ron left, but she’s been using them for about two years. I think that’s part of the reason why Ron left us. He tried to help her, but she didn’t want help.”  
Stephanie pulled Julie into her lap and held her as she cried. This poor little girl had to grow up way too fast and deal with things that a normal 13 year old shouldn’t have to deal with, she should be worried about boys, not her mom using drugs. They sat like that for a long time until Steph heard the ding of the elevator. She told Julie to go to the bathroom and wash her face and head into her room. Steph said she would take care of getting the pizza from Ranger and coming in for a girl’s night.  
Steph met Ranger at the door with a kiss and hug. “If this is what I get for getting you pizza, you might get it more often.” She held onto him an extra few minutes and when she pulled away, he saw she had tears in her eyes. “Babe, what’s wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?”  
“Ranger, we’ll talk later, but Julie has shared more information that you’ll need to give to James, but she’s leery of telling you because she doesn’t want to you get mad.” He started to talk, but she interrupted him and said “I’ll tell you later, but for right now, know that Julie is safe with us. Hand over the pizza and enjoy your salad that I know you got for yourself. I’m going into Julie’s room and have a girl’s night. I’ll see you in the bedroom in a few hours.”  
“Babe…”  
“Ranger, please. Just let it be this way and I’ll explain everything later. I love you.”  
With that said, Steph grabbed the pizza box and headed to the kitchen. She came out a minute later with a couple cans of soda and a roll of paper towels. She walked into Julie’s room and shut the door behind her. Ranger stood and watched her with a confused look on his face.  
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Chapter 8  
Ranger stood and stared at the closed door for a minute and then headed downstairs to his office. He started running searches on Ron to try to find him and decided to run a search on Rachel. He had a nagging feeling that whatever Julie needed to tell him had to do with Rachel. The search on Ron was still running when the search on Rachel came back with some surprising information. She had been picked up for trying to buy drugs from an undercover officer posing as a dealer about 8 months ago. Ranger had never heard about his from anyone in his Miami office or any of his police contacts as they were always keeping an open ear on Rachel and Julie. He read that the charges had been dropped and she was never charged with the crime. He sent an email to one of his contacts to find out what was going on with the case. He left the search on Ron running on his office computer and headed back upstairs with the print outs of Rachel’s arrest.  
When he got back upstairs, Stephanie was in the kitchen. “Babe, what’s going on?” She handed him a glass of wine and pulled out a chair.  
“Ranger, you’ll want to sit and please just listen and don’t interrupt.” She proceeded to tell him what Julie had told her and she could see him getting angrier the longer she talked. His hands were clutched into fists and his mouth was pursed into a grimace. She stopped talking and took a drink of her wine. She looked at him and was surprised when he got up and walked out of the apartment. He got into the elevator and got off at the gym. He walked into the gym, looking at Ram who was working on the punching bag. With a nod of his head, Ram, one of the guys from Trenton, who was doing a weapons training session for the Miami office, stripped off his shirt and followed Ranger onto the mats. They proceeded to beat on each other for about 10 minutes before Ranger stopped and sat down on the mats, putting his head in his hands.  
“Ranger, what’s up? You look like hell and you stopped beating on me, which I think is one your favorite things to do.”  
“Ram, something showed up in my searches on Ron and Rachel and Julie had a talk with Stephanie and provided more information. I needed to work out some anger before I go back upstairs to talk to the girls again. It’s not looking good for Rachel right now, even if she completes the treatment.”  
“Go back upstairs before Stephanie comes looking for you. She doesn’t need to see you like this so clean up first. Talk to her and together you’ll figure out something. Let me know if I you need my sharp shooter skills.” With that, Ram got up and went upstairs to his apartment. Ranger got up and went into the locker room and took a quick shower. He changed into a pair of shorts and t-shirt he left in a locker and headed back upstairs.  
When he got into the apartment, Steph was pacing between the kitchen and living room, muttering to herself and drinking for her wine glass. She stopped and looked up when he cleared his throat to get her attention. “Babe, I’m sorry I left. I needed to let out my frustrations before talking to Julie or you again. Is Julie asleep?”  
Steph walked over to him and pulled him in for a hug. She set her wineglass down and kissed him. “Julie fell asleep about an hour ago. You can talk to her in the morning. She’s sorry that she didn’t tell you what was going on, but after hearing how she had to cover for Rachel for the past year, I’m not surprised. Why don’t you have James stop by before we’re supposed to meet him so he can hear the story and decide what to do with the information? Now, let’s go to bed. We’re still on our honeymoon, right?” Ranger sent a quick text to James and then followed Stephanie into the bedroom.  
When morning came, everyone met in the kitchen. James had arrived and was sitting at the table with coffee and a muffin. Steph filled a plate and joined him. Ranger stood, drinking his coffee, not saying anything. Julie came out and stopped when she saw the three adults at the table. Steph motioned her over and told her to sit down. Steph got up and fixed her a plate of breakfast and gave it to her.  
“Julie, I need you to tell Ranger and James what you told me last night. We need this out in the open before we go to court later this morning.”  
“Ok, but Ranger, please don’t get mad at me for not telling you this earlier.” She looked up at him with tears in his eyes. He looked at her and then at Steph who motioned for him to sit next to Julie. “Julie, I won’t get mad, but if it’s important for this case, you need to tell us.”  
Julie then talked for about an hour, telling everything she told Stephanie the night before. Ranger passed over the paperwork he printed off the night before about Rachel’s arrest and the copy of the email he got back from his contact. The contact would search and see what he could find out. James took everything and stood up, thanking everyone for their help. “We need to get going so we’re not late for court.”  
They all rode the elevator to the garage and Julie got into James’ car, while Ranger and Stephanie drove separately. They all met in the lobby of the courthouse and walked together to the courtroom that was assigned for their case. They walked in and Julie sat with Ranger and Steph while James went to talk to the court officials. Soon, the judge came out and announced that he was ready to start. Rachel was not in the courtroom but she did have an attorney and a staff member from the treatment facility to represent her.  
James stood up and started talking and explained about the recent wedding, the willingness of Stephanie and Ranger to have Julie move in with them back in New Jersey and that Ranger would like to have his parental rights reinstated due to the desertion of her adopted father. He also asked that Ranger be given control over Rachel’s finances while she was in treatment. He talked for a long time about the past two years and Rachel’s increasing drug use. By the end of his speech, Julie was crying and Steph had tears in her eyes. Ranger had a hold of both of their hands and squeezed to reassure them he was there for them. The attorney for Rachel didn’t really have much to say except that they were searching for Ron and the staff from the facility stated that she was not responding to the treatment plan as well as they hoped and would be making changes, which would prolong her stay at the center. Neither of them argued against Ranger getting temporary custody.  
“Thank you all for this information and I’ll need to review everything in my office before coming to a decision. Please stay here until I come back.”  
Ranger pulled Julie into his arms and hugged her, murmuring into her ear the whole time in Spanish. Stephanie had no idea what he was saying, but it calmed Julie down. They all sat, holding hands, waiting for the judge to come back. “James, what do you think?” “Ranger, I think we’ll be okay. The fact that she’ll be at the treatment facility even longer than originally planned should go in your favor.”  
The judge came back and asked Julie to come up to talk to him. Ranger started to walk up with her, but the judge stopped him. “Only Julie is needed at this time.” Ranger sat back down and Steph grabbed his hand and give a squeeze. “She’ll be okay with him. She doesn’t look scared to talk to him, so she’ll be okay.”  
“Babe, what if we don’t get to take her home with us? I don’t think I’ll be able to deal with her going back to that foster home.”  
Stephanie started to answer him, but Julie came back and sat between them again. She wiped the tears off her face and smiled at them. “He was nice to me. He asked me about living with you and if I would miss living in Miami.”  
The judge asked them all to approach the bench. They walked up together, all holding hands. The judge looked at the three of them and smiled. “Mr. and Mrs. Manoso, I will grant you temporary custody of Julie. She can travel between Miami and Trenton, as long as one of you is with her and she will need to be enrolled in school when she moves in with you. On the motion for Mr. Manoso to take control of the mother’s financials, I am also approving that request, provided the court receives a summary of the finances and is provided weekly updates. It sounds like a lot of money is given for child support and unaccounted for at this time. The last motion I will make is regarding Mr. Manoso’s parental rights being restored. At this time, I don’t feel that I can make a decision. I would like a more comprehensive search for the adoptive father to be done and once I get the results of that search, I will make a decision. We will meet again in 90 days to reassess the situation regarding the temporary custody. Thank you, you are dismissed.”  
Julie jumped up and into Ranger’s arms. She was grinning from ear to ear and laughing. “I get to move in with you and Steph. I’m so excited. Let’s go.”  
Ranger kissed her forehead and hugged her before setting her down. He kissed Steph and then turned to James. “Ranger, please don’t feel like you need to kiss me!” “James, I’ll hold back on the kissing, for now, but would like to thank you for all of your help. I will have my team step up the search for Ron and see what we can find. Thank you again.” Stephanie reached over and kissed James on the cheek and thanked him. “Now, a kiss from a pretty lady, I’ll take!” They all laughed and Julie grabbed hands with Ranger and Stephanie and they all walked out into the hallway.  
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Chapter 9  
After leaving the courthouse, they made a quick stop at the foster home Julie had been staying at to pick up her things. Ranger went into the house with her and thanked the family for taking care of her. They got back in the car and then Ranger said, “Julie, do you want to stop by your house and get more of your things?”  
“Ranger, I would like that, but can I bring everything of mine with me? I don’t know what I’ll need and don’t want to forget something important.”  
“Sure, but you know I can buy you anything you need.”  
Steph spoke up and said they should stop at RangeMan to get some boxes and they could grab their stuff because they were heading back to Trenton later on that evening. As they got closer to Julie’s house, she got quiet.  
“Julie, are you okay?” Steph looked at her worriedly.  
“Steph, I’m okay. Just thinking back to the last time I was home.” They pulled up to the house and Ranger opened the doors for both girls, which prompted them to roll their eyes at him. He laughed and pulled out the keys that Rachel had given him a long time ago. They walked in and looked around. The house was barely furnished and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. Ranger looked at Julie and asked, “Where is all of the furniture you had the last time I was here?”

Julie walked in behind Ranger and sighed. “Mom sold it and said we were getting new stuff, but it never came.” “Steph, can you help me in my room get things packed?”  
Steph gave Ranger a look and then said, “You bet kiddo. Let’s do this and then we can get Ranger to stop for ice cream before we go to the airport.”  
The girls headed into Julie’s room while Ranger picked up the pile of mail off of the floor and walked through the house. He was shocked to see how little furniture was in the house. Rachel had inherited a lot of antiques when her parents passed away and from what he could see, most of it was gone. The kitchen was sparse as well. He went through drawers and found stacks of bills, most of them past due and discovered that the phone was already disconnected. He found an empty box in the garage and started filling it with what his accountants would need to go through when he got back to Trenton.  
In Julie’s room, Steph was helping her pack up her clothes and few belongings. Ranger checked on them and started carrying the filled boxes to the car. They finished up and Ranger locked the house. Julie looked sadly at the house and then walked to the car. Steph hugged Ranger and he wiped the tears off her cheeks. “I know Babe, it’s hard for her. We’ll be there for her, regardless of what happens.”  
They did convince Ranger to stop for ice cream on the way to the airport, but they couldn’t convince him to eat any. Even when Stephanie playfully tried to shove a spoonful in his mouth, he declined. “You don’t know what you’re missing dad.”  
Ranger stared at Julie, but didn’t say anything. She’d never called him dad before. Steph grabbed his hand, understanding what had just happened. Julie just kept eating her ice cream and was joking that if he actually ate ice cream, he might explode from the real sugar. They all laughed, but Steph could see that what Julie said really affected Ranger.  
When they got to the airport, Ranger took care of the few bags they had, along with Julie’s boxes. He made sure they got put on the flight with them and then directed his girls to the gate. Once on the plane, Julie fell asleep, even before they took off. Steph sat next to Ranger and held his hand. Ranger smiled down at her and gave her a quick kiss. “She called me dad. She’s never done that before.” “Ranger, you are her father. She feels comfortable enough with you to say it without realizing what she said.” “I know, Babe. It just shocked me. The sparseness of the house also shocked me. I would guess that Rachel was selling the antiques to pay for her habit.” “Well, we’ll figure it out. We have a few hours until we land, so let’s not worry about it right now. Did you get a hold of Ella and your mom?”  
“Yes, they guys had already started to their part and between Ella and my mom, Julie’s bedroom will lack nothing a 13 year old girl should ever want or need. I’m afraid of to see the explosion of pink in my apartment. You still need to get all of your stuff moved in as well. Does your parents still have your rat?”  
“Ranger, he’s a hamster, not a rat. And yes, they still have him. I was going to see if Julie wanted him in her room so she wouldn’t be alone. I might even upgrade his living arrangements to a deluxe habitat I saw at the pet store.”  
“Babe, it’s a rat, not a dog.”  
“Ranger, Rex was my only friend for a while after my divorce and he deserves the best from me, so don’t make fun of him. And besides, if you want a dog, then we’ll get a dog.”  
“Babe…”  
The rest of the flight was uneventful and Ranger had to wake both girls up right before they landed. He held both of their hands after they got off the plane and they walked out into the baggage area to pick up their bags and Julie’s boxes. Tank and Lester were there to help and Julie went running to them. “Uncle Tank, Uncle Lester. I get to move in with dad and Stephanie. I’ll be living in the same building as you so I can visit you more often.” Tank hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then walked over to Ranger and Steph. He hugged Steph and gave Ranger a manly half-hug. “Did everything get done in the apartment?”  
“Yep, wait until you see it Ranger, there’s pink stuff everywhere!! Steph, we went over and packed up your apartment and moved that as well. Your mom brought your rat over this morning when she dropped off some stuff to add to Julie’s room. Said it was something that was in your room growing up and she’s had it put away until you had a daughter. Never thought I’d see the day that Batman and Wonder Woman were parents.”  
“Oh Tank, that’s so nice. I wasn’t looking forward to packing.” She laughed at his other comments and was trying to think of what her mom could have brought over. Oh well, she’ll see soon enough.  
They walked back over to Lester and Julie. They walked into a disturbing conversation with Lester saying “..so if you see the bandana tied around the doorknob, you know not to come in. Otherwise, you’re welcome at my apartment anytime.”  
Ranger punched Lester in the arm and said, “What are you telling her? You live in highly secure building, not a college dorm.” “Ranger, she has to learn sometime. I would rather explain that than have her walk in on something.”  
The guys grabbed all of the bags and boxes and they headed to the SUV and drove back to RangeMan. They parked in the garage and Steph got out and walked around to start pulling out their bags. Ranger stopped her and said, “Leave it for now. The guys can bring it up later. Let’s go upstairs now.” He grabbed both girls and headed to the elevator. They got off on the 7th floor and the first thing he saw was a wreath of dried flowers on the door. Ranger sighed and started muttering about how everything was going to turn pink, while Steph looked at it over. “Ranger, these are flowers from our wedding. I bet Ella made this for us as a welcome home gift. It’s so pretty.”  
Ranger opened the apartment door and they all walked inside. Not too many changes were made in the living room. A couple colorful pillows were now on the couch, some candles and other knickknacks on the shelves, as well as a group of photo frames on the mantel with photos from the wedding. The biggest one was of the three of them, right after the ceremony was over. When they walked over to the hallway to Ranger’s bedroom and office, Julie opened the door to the office and stopped. “Oh, the bed is gone. Do you know where the sheets and blankets are so I can make a bed on the couch?”  
“Julie, this isn’t your room. I couldn’t let you sleep on a roll out bed in my office. Follow me.”  
He led them down a newly constructed hallway and they stopped at the first closed door. There were three other doors in the new hallway that were closed. He said, “The door across the hallway is a new bathroom and the other two down the hall are additional bedrooms that aren’t done yet. But this is your room.” With that he pulled opened the door and they all stood and stared at the room. Steph’s mouth dropped open and Julie started to cry. Ranger pulled her into his arms for a hug and asked if she liked it. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever had. Thank you so much dad. I love you.” She threw her arms around him and hugged him and kissed his cheek. Ranger squeezed his eyes shut tightly so his tears wouldn’t drip out. Steph had tears running down her cheeks and started laughing. “Look at us, blubbering in the hallway when there is an amazing room to go see.” She pulled them into Julie’s room and they all looked around at how much was done is such a short amount of time.  
Ranger’s first thought was “It’s not pink!”  
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Chapter 10  
He must have said it out loud because Julie turned around and said, “I don’t like pink so I’m glad it’s not pink.” She pulled him inside the room and Steph walked in behind them, all three of them looking around. Ella did an amazing job with the decorating. The walls were a pale lilac and there were color accents all around the room. Instead of a regular bed, Julie had a day bed with a pull out trundle for overnight guests. The comforter was a cream color with a lilac flowering vine throughout. There were pillows in various shades of purple and a few cream ones, as well. The curtains had the same print as the comforter. The floor was hardwood with a round rug in the middle of the room that had polka dot pattern of various shades of purple. Everything tied together perfectly. There was a bookshelf and desk that held the laptop that Julie was able to buy with the wedding bet money from Lester. The bookshelf held some books and photo frames with pictures of Julie and her friends from Miami and some from the wedding. There was a small stereo system in one corner with a tv and dvd player set up as well with a beanbag chair on the floor nearby.  
It took Steph a few minutes of looking around, but when she saw what her mom brought over, she let out a gasp.  
“Babe, what’s wrong?”  
“I can’t believe she kept it after these years.”  
“Babe?”  
Steph walked over to the other side of the room and found the dressing table and ran her fingers over the glass top. It had recently been painted a creamy white color and the glass replaced on the top, but it was still hers. She crouched down and found her initials she had carved in one time so long ago. Her dad had made the table for her when she was 10 years old and insisted that Steph help and learn how to use tools. She had enjoyed this time with her dad and felt proud of what they had built. It was a rectangle shaped table with a glass top that she used to show off pictures and other teenage mementos. It has two small drawers on each side and mirror attached that has lights attached, along with a small storage bench with a cushioned top that served as a seat. She pulled open the drawers and found that her mom had added a few make up items and some hair accessories for Julie. She stood up with tears in her eyes to find Ranger and Julie were watching her. Through her tears, she explained about building it and just kept repeating over and over that she thought they got rid of it after she went to college.  
“I think it’s beautiful and am glad she kept it. I’ll take really good care of it Steph and then you can have it back when I go to college.”  
Steph left Julie’s room and walked out to the living room. She was pulling one of the framed photos off the mantel and opened it up, taking the photo out. She set the frame on the coffee table and started back towards Julie’s room. She went back in and asked Julie to come over to the dressing table. She pushed the photo under the glass top and smiled. It was their first family photo after they were married. “Julie, this is what I used to do with my favorite photos and hope you do the same.” Julie threw her arms around Steph and whispered in her ear. Steph gave her a smile and then stood up.  
“More secrets Babe?”  
“Ranger, sometimes girls just need to share with other girls and boys need not know everything!”  
He laughed and then the three of them continued to look around the bedroom. The closet had a built in dresser and Ella had taken the opportunity to fill it and the hanging bars with new clothes for Julie.  
Ranger and Steph eventually left Julie to unpack what she brought from Miami and they went into their bedroom to unpack from their trip. Steph walked into the bedroom first and found a package wrapped in lilac paper with silver ribbon tied into an elaborate bow. She looked at Ranger and he just smiled and said “It’s not from me, but if it made it into the apartment, then we shouldn’t worry about it blowing up.” Steph looked at him and laughed. “Ranger, really? Not everything of mine blows up.”  
Steph opened it up and found a scrapbook. The cover was a copy of the photo from the top of their wedding cake and when Steph opened it up, she started crying. Ranger sat down next to her and wiped her tears. “Happy tears”, she said. They looked through the book and realized that both mothers and grandmothers had a part of making the book. The pictures started with a shot of them after the court hearing that James must have taken without them knowing. It was the three of them in a group hug all with smiles on their faces. It progressed back through the wedding and then some RangeMan photos of Steph and Ranger out of surveillance jobs and with the guys in the office and gym. It then progressed back to Steph’s time at the bonds office, photos with Lula and Connie, photos of Ranger’s time in the army, both of their high school graduations and then the final pages included all of the photos and mementos from when Steph used the dressing table. There was a page with similar items from Ranger’s teenage days that his mother must have been keeping for him. The book ended with baby photos of both of them and a short note from their mothers and grandmothers about making the book. They said they hoped that Steph and Ranger would continue to add to the pages as their lives progressed. Ranger gave Steph and kiss and stood up. “Babe, as much as I’d like to stay here with you, I need to go check in downstairs. Why don’t you call the parents and let them know we’re home and ask them over for supper. I’ll order in the food so we don’t have to worry about cooking or getting Ella to cook.”  
Steph called her parents and then Ranger’s parents and then went into Julie’s room. Julie had music playing on the stereo while she was going through all of her new clothes.  
“Hey, all of the grandparents are coming over for dinner tonight so we can thank them for all of their hard work. Some of the guys will be up as well. Ranger is ordering in the food so you don’t have to worry about me poisoning everyone by cooking dinner. I’m going to head downstairs to Ranger’s office, do you want to come with me?” “Sure, let me turn off the stereo.”  
Together they went downstairs to Ranger’s office and found him typing away on his computer. He looked up and smiled at them when they walked into his office. “My two favorite girls, what can I do for you?”  
“Ranger, just checking in. All the families have been called and will be over in an hour. Did you call in the food order yet?”  
“Not yet, why don’t you two decide what you want and then tell Lester. He can call it in and go pick it up for us. While you’re both here, let me give you some things that I had set up for you.” He proceeded to open a drawer and pulled out key fobs, cell phones, a couple bracelets and a gun.  
“Julie, you get a phone and a key fob. The key fob will open the door to the apartment so please don’t lose it. I don’t want my apartment key floating around school. Also, this bracelet is for you. Please wear it always as it has a tracking device in it so we can find you at all times. You don’t get the gun, but I would like you to learn properly how to use it and not be scared of it.  
Steph, here is your apartment key fob, as well as a fob for a car. You also get a new cell phone, have Hector help you set it up with everything you want kept from your current phone. You also get a tracking bracelet and the gun. Please keep them both with you at all times. I know you don’t like the gun, but you will need to go through some more training with Ram on the gun range. You need to learn to like your gun.  
Also, both of you will need to take some defense lessons with Tank and Lester. Also, some brief medical training from Bobby.”  
Julie stood look at him with her mouth hanging open, while Steph just rolled her eyes at him. “Geez Ranger, we just came down to talk about supper, not get set up for a war.” He looked at her and just shook his head. She laughed at him, dropped a kiss on his lips and then pulled Julie out of his office. “Let’s go see if Ella is home so we can thank her for your room and all that she’s done for us in the past few days.” With that, the girls left his office and he sat for a minute, shaking his head and then got back to work.  
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Chapter 11  
By the time Lester returned with the extremely large order of Chinese food, all of the families had arrived and everyone was upstairs in the new family’s apartment. The food was set out on the kitchen island and plates were handed out. People were scattered around the kitchen and living room eating their dinner and talking about the wedding, the court date and the remodeling of the apartment. Julie was talking with Angie and Mary Alice about school and made plans to go school supply shopping for Julie the next day.  
Steph gave her mom a big hug and thanked her for keeping the dressing table. They both had tears in their eyes talking about its history. As people were finishing up eating, Ranger got everyone’s attention. “Steph, Julie and I would like to thank everyone for their help with the wedding and the remodeling of the apartment, especially Julie’s room. We know that the past week has been a whirlwind and appreciate the way everyone worked together and helped us get things accomplished. We have a long road ahead of us here and in Miami, but with our families behind us, we know things will work out. First thing is to get Julie enrolled in school and settled in with everything. Please make sure you get all that you want to eat before we turn the leftovers over to the vultures downstairs. Enjoy everyone.”  
Once some of the families started to leave, Julie took the other girls into her room and shut the door. Ranger looked at Steph and just sighed. “Ranger, a teenage girl needs some privacy, believe me. They will be fine, they are in a secure apartment, in a secure building that has more guns and ammunition than the Pentagon. Stop worrying.”  
“Babe…”  
They cleaned up the kitchen, putting the dishes in the dishwasher and throwing all of the empty containers away. Lester and Tank had already taken the leftovers downstairs so there was no food to put away. Steph had told Val that they would keep the girls overnight since they were all going shopping together in the morning. Ranger locked the apartment up for the night and they headed towards their bedroom. They stopped at Julie’s room and knocked. She yelled at them to come in and they opened the door. The girls were watching a dvd on the tv and had pulled the trundle bed out so they all had somewhere to sleep. Steph told them goodnight and Ranger told them not to make a lot of noise and to go to bed when the dvd was over. All four of the girls rolled their eyes at Ranger and then Julie pushed him out of her room and shut the door. A loud burst of giggles could be heard through the door and Stephanie just laughed at him.  
By the next morning, Ranger was glad that they now had more than one bathroom. Julie and the girls were in one bathroom, and had been in there for over an hour. He had gotten up first and started the coffee and started to put out some cereal, yogurt and fruit for breakfast. All of the girls, including Stephanie, came out about the same time and looked at the selection in the kitchen. Steph gave a groan and told the girls to grab their stuff and they would stop for donuts on the way to the mall. Ranger looked at her and just sighed.  
“Ranger, girls need donuts before shopping, not health food. We’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll let you know when we’re done and maybe you could meet us for lunch.”  
Ranger pulled out his wallet and handed over a couple credit cards. They both had her new name on them and she squealed when she saw one of them was for Macy’s. “Ranger, thank you, but you didn’t have to get these for me. I have my own you know.”  
“Babe, please take these and use them, especially for things you buy for Julie. My money is now your money so feel free to spend it like I know you can.”  
Steph gave Ranger a kiss and then ushered the girls out of the apartment. Ranger called out to her and when she turned around, he threw a key fob at her. “Take the SUV Babe so you have room for all of the stuff you buy. See you later. Love you.”  
Ranger headed down to his office and found the info the guys had put together so far on Ron’s disappearance and Rachel’s prior arrest. He started reading and before he got too far, his phone rang. He saw it was from one of his Miami guys he had contacted about Rachel’s arrest. As he answered the phone, he got up and shut his office door.  
Steph pulled into the parking lot of the bakery and herded the girls into the store. They were trying to decide what to get when the door opened. Steph turned around and smiled.  
“Joe”  
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Chapter 12  
“Steph, looks like things have changed for you since I’ve been out of town. Decided to become a mother?”  
Steph laughed and then motioned him to sit down with them after they got their donuts. The girls started eating and she noticed that Julie was watching him closing, while the other girls starting talking about where to go shopping.  
“Joe, so much has changed in the past week, I don’t know where to begin.”  
“Best to start at the beginning, don’t you think? Last I heard, you and Ranger were on the outs, even though you were still working for him. Now it looks like you’ve turned into a mom overnight.”  
Steph laughed and then started talking. Over the next hour, Steph poured out the whole story to Joe. He didn’t say much, only interrupting to ask a few questions.  
The girls had finished eating and were starting to get restless. “I’d better get going. We’re going school supply shopping for Julie and then meeting Ranger for lunch. It was good to see you and hope we can get lunch together sometime soon.”  
“It was good to see you too. I’ll do a little searching on my own if that’s okay with you. I’ll let you know what I find out.”  
Steph gave him a hug and he said goodbye to all of them. Julie was still watching him closely, but didn’t say anything. They all got into the SUV and Steph drove them to the mall. While they were driving there, the girls plotted out the best stores to go to since they only had a few hours. The next few hours flew buy quickly and the credit card that Ranger gave Steph got a big workout. Not only did they get everything that Julie needed, they also got the other two girls a couple things, and Steph broke down at Macy’s and got 4 new pairs of shoes. Then, Julie said that she should get new dresses that go with the shoes, so an hour later, 4 new dresses were purchased. They hauled all of their bags back to the SUV and headed for home. They dropped the girls off at Val’s house with the promise of meeting outside school on Monday, which was going to be Julie’s first day of school.  
While Steph was driving back to RangeMan, she noticed that Julie was staring out the window and not looking at her. “What’s going on kiddo? You’ve been kind of quiet all morning, ever since we left the bakery. Are you nervous about Monday?”  
“Steph, did you use to date Joe before you dated my dad?” Steph pulled the car over and parked. She turned around and motioned for Julie to climb into the front seat.  
“Julie, I’ve known Joe my entire life. We grew up together and at one point did date, but I haven’t gone out on a date with him in over 2 years. He is a good friend and would have been at the wedding, but was out of town for work. He works as a detective in the police department. Joe will always be a part of my life, just not in the same way as he once was a few years ago. Ranger was the only man I was dating until he decided we needed to take a break while he was trying to deal with everything going on in your life. After that happened, I didn’t want to date anyone else. No one could come close to your dad. We had a long talk when it came up that we should get married and both agreed that this was what we both wanted. I love Ranger more than I’ve ever loved anyone and have no doubts about how he feels about me. Someday we’ll tell you the whole story, but for now, don’t ever doubt my love for your dad.”  
Julie threw her arms around Steph and hugged her. Steph hugged her back and when she pulled away she saw that Julie was finally smiling. “I was worried that you only married Ranger because of me but still wanted to go out with Joe.”  
“Oh sweetie, that’s the last thing I would do. Let’s go home. We have all of your new stuff to put away and then figure out where to go for lunch with your dad. What do you feel like having?”  
“Pizza!” Julie exclaimed. “Pino’s it is then! A girl after my own heart”, Steph said laughing.  
They pulled into the parking garage and before they could get out, Lester was opening the back door and stood staring at their bags. “How did you do so much damage in such a short amount of time?”  
“Lester, Lester, Lester…you need to come shopping with me sometime and I’ll teach you everything I know. Besides most of these are for Julie. I just got a few things at Macy’s for myself.”  
Julie started laughing, “Just a few things?” “Shut up new daughter of mine before I start tickling you.”  
With that, Julie took off running for the stairs while Lester helped Stephanie get all of the bags out of the SUV and they headed towards the elevator. “Anything happen while you were out? I didn’t hear that anything exploded at the mall.”  
“Lester, you need to let that go. I have only exploded one car recently and that wasn’t my fault. Plus I wasn’t even near the car when it happened. How was I to know that one of the old people in my old apartment building had a car that was leaking gasoline and then parked next to me? I wasn’t the one that threw the cigarette butt in the lot either, so it’s not my fault. My car was the innocent victim.”  
Lester was chuckling with her as they got off at the control room. She could see Julie in Ranger’s office telling him about their shopping trip. Ranger looked up and saw her and quirked an eyebrow at her. “How does it do that with only one eyebrow?” Lester turned around to face her and had one quirked up as well. “You mean something like this?” “Oh shut up!”  
Ranger came out and glanced at all of the bags they had dumped on Stephanie’s desk. “Been busy, huh Babe?”  
“Be quiet. Only 2 of them are mine, the rest are Julie’s.”  
“Babe, I was joking. I did hear about the shoes and dresses and can’t wait to see them. I’ll be ready for lunch in about half an hour. Why don’t you girls go upstairs and I’ll come up when I’m ready. Where are we going?”  
“Pino’s, of course!” “Of course, why did I even ask?”  
They piled back into the SUV and headed to Pino’s. They walked in and found a table in the back, of course, and placed their order. Julie was talking non-stop about the shopping trip and how excited she was about starting school. Ranger had called her school in Miami and had her records transferred to the same school Val’s girls attended. Steph and Ranger were taking her there the next day to find her away around the school and meet some of the teachers. By the time they finished their lunch, Ranger had to get back to work for a meeting. Steph and Julie headed up to the apartment and both went into their bedrooms to deal with the items from the shopping trip.  
By the time Ranger headed upstairs after his work day was done, Steph had put everything away and had fallen asleep on their bed while flipping through the scrapbook again. Ranger came into the apartment and found it to be quiet. He looked in Julie’s room and she had fallen asleep in her beanbag chair watching a dvd. He walked into the bedroom and found Stephanie. He smiled at her, put the scrapbook on the dresser and kicked off his shoes. He crawled into bed behind her and pulled her close to him. She let out a sigh in her sleep, making him smile and after he dropped a kiss on her cheek, he soon fell asleep thinking about how much he loved her.


End file.
